For Conservatives, the end of the Souter Era still leaves a sour taste

For Conservatives, it's bad enough that recent elections, RNC strife, Specter defections, and this celebration of all things "Obama" have all converged on America, leaving Brand R, and Conservatism, in a terrible ditch. Justice David Souter's announcement that he plans to leave the Supreme Court this Summer is the "cherry on top" of the Conservatives Winter of Discontent.

I can hear the howls now. "Why did Souter wait until NOW!?" Couldn't he have left in 2004? Or even 1994, for that matter!". "This guy was the legacy of the failed Bush Presidency, in the eyes of Conservatives from Maine to California. Not George W. Bush, but his father. For it was George HW Bush ("forty-one") who put Souter up for the bench, saying "he'll be a solid Conservative voice" for the court.

Souter went on to be confirmed in relatively short order, but it turned out that he ended up being one of the most Liberal Justices on the court, and continues to be, up to the present, one of the "Liberal 4" block of Justices on most large issues of the day.

For Conservatives, a "mistake" like Souter cost causes like the Pro-Life movement their opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a Conservative Justice in Souter's place would have made the difference, and could have tilted the argument entirely during these past 17 years or so.

The fact that Conservatives had gotten through the Bill Clinton years virtually unscathed, only having to replace Byron White and Harry Blackmun with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer. From the Conservative point of view, nothing big was lost in that transition. A lefty and centrist for two lefties.

The W. Years yielded an ideological "push" (Roberts for Rehnquist), and a significant shift to the right (Alito for O'Connor). Today, the Conservatives have their court within reach. For some issues, the court is already pushing Conservative interpretations. And the opportunities to have an even more conservative bench was within reach. All the Liberals (Souter, Ginsberg, Breyer, Stevens) are either over 70 (Breyer), pushing 90 (Stevens), in poor health (Ginsberg) or looking to leave (Souter). What an opportunity!

But alas, Obama beat McCain in the election, and many of the Liberal Justices may decide this is the time to get out (while a Liberal can be replaced by another liberal). Souter's departure may be just the first of as many as four vacancies during this Presidential term. And it's got to be killing the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney. It's insult to injury. Watching Souter leave is like watching the guy who just stole your girl turn to you and give you the finger on his way out the door with her...

We'll continue to pay attention to this story over the next few months, but for now, what does a Conservative have to do to get some good news these days?